Define the Threats Associated With Excessive Population Growth

Excessive Population Growth

Threats Associated with Excessive Population Growth

The world population has grown more in the past 50 years than it did during 4 million years of previous human existence. It continues to grow at a rapid pace, showing no signs of stabilizing in the near future. If we consider the fact that the earth has a limited amount of space and a finite number of resources, it is logical to assume that population growth is sustainable only up to a certain point. Most experts are in agreement that the point would be reached very soon. There are numerous negative ramifications of excessive population growth. Some of the more important sociological and environmental threats associated with such excessive population growth are discussed in this paper.

Poverty

There are several factors responsible for poverty, but overpopulation brought about by an excessive population growth rate is one of its leading causes. Poverty is usually the result of high population density (such as in Bangladesh that has a population density of more than 950 persons per sq. km) or low amounts of resources (e.g., sub-Saharan Africa where lack of economic resources, technology and infertile land is unable to support much sparser densities of population). In every country only a certain number of people can be supported on a given area of land, depending on how much food and other resources the land can provide. This is especially true in underdeveloped countries where people live primarily by means of subsistence farming, gardening, herding, hunting, and gathering. (Corbett, Para on "Causes of Poverty") For example, in sub-Saharan Africa even large areas of land can support only small numbers of people. This is in stark contrast to the developed world where mechanized farming and other means of wealth creation enable the sustainability of higher density populations. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of difference in the fertility rates in developed and underdeveloped countries with the latter having much higher birth rates because of lack of education and social reasons such as children being considered old age security for parents. The resulting overpopulation perpetuates the cycle of poverty. As a result, during the 1990s the number of people living in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa rose from 242 million to 300 million and the per capita income shrank by 0.3% a year in the region.

Disease

Many developing countries suffering form "demographic fatigue" (overpopulation and dwindling resources) are unable to counter the spread of deadly diseases such as HIV / AIDS. While the developed countries have been able to contain HIV to levels below 1% of their population, in countries such as Zimbabwe over 26% of the population is HIV positive. This has resulted in a drop of life expectancy from 61 years (in 1990) to 44 years (in 2000), and projected to drop to 39 years (in 2010). (Brown, 2000) This inability of poor, overpopulated countries to fight disease is threatening to push them back into the pre-industrial age societies where populations were kept stable by a high death rate rather than the control of the birth rate.

Dwindling Resources

Overpopulation along with over-consumption is putting unbearable stress on the finite resources of the earth including food, water and the fragile eco-system / environment. It is true that some of the predictions about massive food shortages such as the one by Thomas Malthus have not come true so far due to unprecedented advances in agriculture. But despite optimistic projections by the FAO for further advances in agricultural production due to new developments in genetic engineering, most experts fear the world's food production may be nearing its limits. (Brown) Besides, over-fishing in the oceans has also severely depleted supplies of fish. Since a large part of the world relies on fish as a food staple, the threat of dwindling fish is alarming.

The threat of looming water shortages is even more alarming. Water tables are now falling on every continent as the demand for water drains the supply of existing aquifers. The situation is doubly serious, as most of the estimated 3 billion people to be added to the world population in the next 50 years will be born in countries already experiencing water shortages. ("Impacts" World Population Awareness Web site, Para on "Water")

Another result of overpopulation is the dwindling forests and wetlands. It is estimated by the UN that half of the world's wetlands were lost during the last century and logging and conversion reduced the world's forests by half during the same period. Tropical deforestation exceeds 130,000 square kilometers per year and about 9% of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction. (Ibid. Quote from UNDP's March 2000 Report) Apart from the economic loss, such massive deforestation result in increasing flood damages.